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“NFL Trademarks
By
Taylor Salisbury”

Have you ever had a product or service that you were proud of and wanted others to know it was you behind it? Well if you have, then having a trademark is the answer to that question. A trademark identifies and distinguishes the product or service of one seller or provider from another. A trademark can range from many different things, including a brand name, word, name, symbol, device, or any combination of these. Also the owner of a trademark can be an individual or a business. The trademark process may be a lengthy process, but the benefits of having a trademark will be worth it. The trademarks that will be focused on are NFL trademarks. The NFL is notorious for guarding its intellectual property rights to the full extent of the law. The NFL has multiple trademarked items, including; any team name or nickname, ”NFL,”AFC”,”NFC”. But the NFL’s most prized trademark has to deal with the Super Bowl. The NFL is very strict when it comes to all its trademarks. The NFL monitors it marketing rights, they watch for; product promotions, media promotions, viewing parties, and Nominative Fair Use. However the NFL does license out its trademarks.
Before diving into the NFL trademark policy, will first talk about what a trademark is, how to acquire a trademark, and the advantages of having one. A trademark, according to the trademark office is a “brand name.” It includes any “word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services.” A trademark can be on the package of a product or even the product itself. The main purpose of a trademark is to protect the property of the individual or business. However the owner of the trademark has the right to license out it trademarks, which the NFL does. If someone uses your trademark without your approval, then you may take legal action. However, in the United States, legal action can be taken to protect an unregistered trademark if it is in use. An unregistered trademark has less protection then that of a registered trademark. Acquiring a trademark in the United States, all you need to do is be the first to use it in trade and make continuous use of the mark thereafter. When in business protecting your assets and intellectual property acquiring a trademark is very important. A trademark registration process is a lengthy process and takes anywhere from a year to several years. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), there are 19 steps to follow when acquiring and registering for a trademark. “Every trademark application must have a legal basis for filing. The filing bases under federal trademark law are: Section 1(a) Use; Section 1(b) Intent-to-Use; Section 44(d) Foreign application; Section 44(e) Foreign registration; and Section 66(a) Madrid Protocol.” The following 19 steps are what it takes to attain a trademark. This will be a brief overview of each step, however there is more information in each step. The first seven steps are the initial steps of the process. Step 1 is to determine whether you need a trademark, patent, or copyright protection. Each of these are different and protect and require different steps. Step 2 is to determine if you need a trademark attorney. Step 3 is to identify your mark format. An example of mark format is a standard character mark. Step 4 is to identify what the goods and/or services that the trademark will cover. Step 5 is to search the USPTO database to check if your trademark is not being used already. Step 6 is to identify the proper basis for filing a trademark application. Step 7 is to file the application online through the Trademark Electronic Application System. Steps 8 -19 are the steps when the trademark gets reviewed to obtaining and keeping your trademark going. Step 8 is the USPTO will review your application. They will check to see if it complies with all applicable rules and statutes. Steps 9 and 10 have to deal with a trademark that wont be registered. Step 11 is the USPTO will publish the trademark. Step 12 is the “Registration Certificate Issues for Applications Based on Use, Foreign Registrations, and International Registrations”. Step 13 is the “Notice of Allowance Issues for Marks Based on an Intent-to-Use the Mark”. Step 14 is the applicant will file its statement of the use of the trademark. Step 15 is if the applicant doesn't file the trademark will be invalid. Step 16 the USPTO will review the statement of use by the applicant and make sure its within the law. Step 17 a certificate is issued. Step 18 is to make sure you monitor your status. The last step is to protect your rights. It is your responsibility to enforce your rights. Although it is a lengthy process and there are many steps in acquiring a trademark, the benefits of a trademark may be worth it. The main benefit of a trademark is protecting your assets and making sure you're the one making money and not anyone else. Another benefit of a trademark is it deters others from using your property. If someone does use your trademarked property, you have the right to sue in court and recover money, which are also other benefits of a trademark. The last benefit is having a recognizable product that others wont have. Those are just some of the benefits of a trademark; there are many other trademarks. After discussing a brief overview of trademarks, looking at an organization that has many trademarks and uses them to be a successful organization. The NFL is a prime example of this; they have multiple trademarks and use utilize them in a efficient way. The NFL trademarks include any team name or nickname, ”NFL,”AFC”,”NFC”. Super Bowl. The NFL monitors advertising and seeks compensation when any of it trademarks have been used without the proper licensing agreement.
According to the NFL Website:
Trade and Service Mark Rights
We (or our affiliates) and our member professional football clubs own all rights in the product names, company names, trade names, logos, product packaging and designs ("Trademarks") of the National Football League and such member clubs, and third parties own all Trademarks in their respective products or services, whether or not appearing in large print or with the trademark symbol. Unauthorized use of any such Trademarks, including reproduction, imitation, dilution or confusing or misleading uses, is prohibited under the trademark laws of the United States and other countries. You are expressly prohibited from using or misusing any Trademarks, except as expressly provided in this Agreement, and nothing otherwise stated or implied in the Services confers on you any license or right to do so. The NFL has had to go to court over its trademarks. On May 24, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case American Needle v. National Football League (NFL) that the NFL’s trademark licensing agreements are subject to review under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. This ruling overturned a previous ruling that stated that the NFL trademark agreements were exempt from Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Section 1 of the Sherman Act states “[e]very contract, combination . . . or conspiracy, in the restraint of trade or commerce . . . is declared to be illegal.” Basically the purpose is to prevent independent businesses, like the NFL, from controlling the free market, and being able to determine price and production of goods. In the case American Needle alleged, that the 32 NFL teams violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by engaging in a “horizontal agreement to grant an exclusive license to Reebok.” The NFL responded by saying that they were a single entity in business. At first the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed with the NFL. But when it was taken to Supreme Court, it got overruled. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 , that the owners of the NFL’s 32 teams are subject to being sued if they agree to restrict competition between the teams. The court stated that each individual NFL team operates as a “substantial, independently owned, [and] independently managed business. If you look at a specific NFL teams website, they explain their trademark rules. For example, when looking at the Denver Broncos website it states the following, “The Denver Broncos name and logos are trademarks of the National Football League”. It goes on to explain that anyone wishing to obtain a license must go through the NFL Properties, which will be discussed later. They make it clear that the “Denver Broncos do not have the authority to grant anyone permission to make and sell products incorporating NFL trademarks.” Because of the court case between the NFL and American Needle, each individual team is stating that they are not the ones who will decide who to gets license out equipment and that its up to the NFL Properties to decide this. The NFL’s most prized trademark is the “Super Bowl”. The NFL protects its rights and makes sure that they are making as much money possible. The trademarked terms dealing with this event are "Super Bowl", "Super Sunday", the Super Bowl logo, and any team name or nickname of a team that is playing in the game. However there are ways around the trademarked terms. It is ok to use terms like the “Big Game” or the cities of the teams that are playing in the game. When it comes to the Super Bowl the NFL looks for product promotions, media promotions and viewing parties. For a company to put the words “Super Bowl” or “Official product of the Super Bowl” would cost the company a large amount of money. The same goes for the media production and viewing parties. For CBS to be called the “Home of the Super Bowl” they had to pay for those rights. Even though the NFL fights hard to protect its Super Bowl mark, that doesn't make them a “bad” business or the evil guys. They protect the Super Bowl because they don't want the value of their brand or event to suffer. If they allowed non-licensed companies to use the Super Bowl trademark without having to pay for it, the licensed advertisers will feel used and are not going to pay to use the trademark. The Super Bowl trademark has exclusivity to it. Those who use it spent a lot of money to be able to use that trademark. Even with this there are still events that come up in the news that make the NFL look like the evil business. With this recent Super Bowl between the two Harbaugh brothers, brought a lot of attention to the NFL. ESPN reported a story that the NFL pressured a man to give up his quest to trademark "Harbowl," It was reported that the man had the legal rights to do so and was the first to file for the trademark back in 2011. The NFL, however tried to encouraged him to drop the trademarks, stating that his trademarks conflict with the NFL’s trademark, Super Bowl. The NFL stated that it would be confusing to the fans between the Harbowl and the Super Bowl. Even Samsung took a jab at the NFL during the Super Bowl. They had a minute long commercial about how they couldn't use the NFL’s trademarks in fear of being sued by them. Even though the NFL is strict about their trademarks, they still license out their trademarks for use. The NFL has set up a website nfl.biz, for its licensing of its trademarks. NFL Properties LLC (NFLP) has developed a website that provides pre-qualification information and forms for companies interested in having the NFL consider their products to be able to use the NFL’s trademarks. The NFLP is control of the NFL’s trademarks and are the ones who issue out license agreements. The Licensing Pre-Qualification Terms and Conditions is a long agreement that must be met in order to be able to use a NFL trademark. The main parts of the agreement are described below. The minimum requirements for your product to be considered as a licensed product of the NFL must meet the following requirements. First your company must have a minimum of three years experience in manufacturing and distribution. The next requirement is that you must be a manufacturer, you cant just be a middleman or work for a distributor. Another requirement is that you must “Have the ability to pay 100% of minimum royalty guarantee upon execution of a license agreement (typically about $100,000 per year) and be able to generate sales sufficient to meet the minimum royalty guarantee on a yearly basis” The next requirement is that you have a insurance carrier with a rating not less than A-VIII and have a cover policy for liability. The last requirement is that you must be in compliance with all federal, state and local laws. With these requirements just to be considered for a license agreement, the NFL is making sure that they are working with successful and larger companies. The NFL doesn't want to risk a company making them look bad by tarnishing their name. Another thing to look for is what categories of products the NFLP is not licensing at this time. The list of the products can be found the nfl.biz website. But the products range from most clothing apparel, headwear, video games, trading cards and many others. A lot of this has to deal with the NFL’s new partnership with Nike. Nike recently replaced Reebok as the league's exclusive maker of licensed on-field apparel. Which includes uniforms, clothing and fan gear. In conclusion, after seeing a brief overview of trademarks, how to acquire a trademark and what the benefits of having a trademark are, we saw a great example of a company who utilizes their trademarks to the fullest. The NFL was a prime example of a company who uses trademarks to differentiate themselves from other sports organizations. The NFL has been to court with its trademarks, changed its partnership with its trademarks and has a lengthy process to attain a NFL trademark license, but through it all they do it to make money and protect their assets.

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Davidson, Daniel V., and Lynn M. Forsythe. "Protecting What Makes the Venture Unique." The Entrepreneur's Legal Companion. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. 224-25. Print.
[ 2 ]. "Trademark Process." Trademark Process. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.
[ 3 ]. "Trademark Process." Trademark Process.
[ 4 ]. "Trademark Process." Trademark Process.
[ 5 ]. "Benefits of Trademark Registration." Benefits of Trademark Registration. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.
[ 6 ]. "NFL.com Terms and Conditions." NFL.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2013
[ 7 ]. American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League. Supreme Court of United States. 24 May 2010
[ 8 ]. Edelman, Marc. "Upon Further Review: Will The NFL's Trademark Licensing Practices Survive Full Antitrust Scrutiny? The Remand of American Needle v. National Football League." By Marc Edelman. N.p., Spring 2011. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
[ 9 ]. Savage, David G. "Supreme Court Rules against NFL in Antitrust Case." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.
[ 10 ]. "Frequently Asked Questions." Denver Broncos. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013
[ 11 ]. Norman, Joseph. "School of Law." Creative Advertising: Working Around the NFL's "SUPER BOWL" Trademark. N.p., 3 Mar. 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.
[ 12 ]. Darren Rovell. "NFL Pressures Man Over trademarks." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.
[ 13 ]. "NFL.biz." NFL.biz. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.
[ 14 ]. "NFL.biz." NFL.biz.

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